Work-positioning device for buttonhole-sewing machines



J. KIEWICZ. WORK POSITIONING DEVICE FOR BUTTONHOLE SEWING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED MAYGI 1920.

Patented Nov. 23, 1920.

J IHH HPI l nvenTor. John K iewicg byfmal ATTys.

warren sra'rss rarest orricn.

Jami nrnwrcz. or Bos'ron, MASSACHUSETTS, AssIGnoR ro'rnn n-EEcE BUTTON HOLE ACHINE COMPANY, or nosron-rvrassncnusnrrs, A"OORPORATION'OEMAINE.

WORK-POSITIONING DEVICE FOR BUTTONHOLE-SEWING.IVIACHINES;

Specification of Letters Patent. Pa-fiefltedNov; 23,- 1920',

Application filed May 6, 1920. Serial No. 379,375. a

To all "whom it may concern v Be it known that 1, JOHN Kinwroz, a citizen of the United States, residing at Boston, county of Suffolk, State of- Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in lVork-Positioning Devices for Buttonhole- Sewing Machines, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawing, is a specification, like characters on the drawing representing like parts. i

This invention relates to buttonhole sewing machines and particularly to sewing machines that are adapted to sew the buttonlioles in the backs of collars, and'the main object of the invention isto provide a novel work-holding device by which the collar is automatically centered so as to insure that the buttonhole will be made at the proper position centrally at the backof the collar.

In order to give an understanding of my invention, I have illustrated in the drawings a selected embodiment thereof which will now be described, after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims. I

In the drawings, Figure'l is a plan view of a portion of the. bed plate and work+ holding means of'ahbuttonhole sewing machine showing my improvement applied thereto;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line"2.2; Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3'3; Fig.

Fig. 4" is a section onthe line 4-4:, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 isa section on the-line"55, Fig. 1..

- Inasmuch as my'present invention relates. simply to the work-holding means, I have not thought it necessary to il ustrate a complete buttonhole' sewing machine. 7

1 indicates the frontportion of the bed. frame of a buttonhole sewing machine, and 2 is the clamp plateof the work-clamping means on which the w'orkis' clamped by means of the work clamps 3 that arepivotedl.

to the clamp plate, as, usual in buttonhole sewing machines. The clamp plate ha's the usual sewing opening 4 immediately beneath which is situated. the throat-plate 5..-

of the under-thread-handling: mechanism, and the work-clamp 3. is provided with an elongated opening 6 corresponding to the.

of the bed plate 1 thereby to carry'the work from buttonliole-cutting to stitching. position and vice versa, and it is also mounted for movement transversely of the bed plate 1 or in the direction of the length of the opening 6 thereby to provide for feeding the work down one side of the buttonh'ole and then back the otherside thereof; The

work-holding means is' shown in Fig. 1 in its buttonhole-cutting position; and when the sewing machine is started, the buttonhole is cut, after which the workeholdi'ngg'"means is moved forwardly to bring the throat-;

plate 5-underneath' the opening 6', after] which the stitching on the buttonhole' is done in usual manner.

- The buttonhole' sewing machine hereinshown is. constructedto stitch the button; hole at the back of a collar, the latter be.-

ingshown in dotted lines at 71" 'In order. to.

properly stitch this buttonhole itz,is, of'

c0urse, essential that; during the stitchingf' operat on thecollar'should be so positioned that the back buttonho'lewhen formed will.

be inthe right location relative to the but tonholes'at the end of the collarind-ic'ated' by the dotted lines 4:8. and my. improve ments aredirected' to a' novel mean's'for positioning the collar when it is first inserted 1 into the machine and before the. work clamps 3 are closed thereby clamping the collar against the clamp plate 2.

improved positioning device is automatic in itsaction so that all the operator has 'to'doisto attach the collar thereto, the

The positioning device, he ein shown; and

which constitutesthe preferred embodiment of my invention. compriseslas. one element thereof a plate 8" which overliesithe" bed plate 1 of 'the. machine and detachablyj ecured thereto in some suitable wav fl'.

have" herein shown for this" purposefclamping' screws 9extending thr0ll' qh open slots; 49 formed in said plate and screw-threaded j into thebed -frame 1, and a retainingfiarm 50 depending'from the front .of the plate 8 and underlying the flange 51 of :'the"bed frame. said arm 50 having a spring-pressed retaining pin 52 adapted toenter a recess in said flange 511 This pin 52 is provided with a head 53by which it beIwith-I drawn from the recess when "tlie"'plate 8 15-11 0 to be removed. Said positioning device also comprises two arms 10 pivotally connected to the plate 8 at 11 and provided at their free ends with projections or pins 12 adapted to enter the buttonholes 48 of the collar. These pins orprojections 12 are adjustably mounted in slots13 formed in the ends of the arms 10 so as to permit the pins to be adjusted lon itudinally of the slots. Said pins when adjusted are clamped in adjusted position: by clamping screws 141 V The arms 10 are spring-actuated and are capable of swinging toward and from each other about their pivots 11 and they are also connected by suitable connections which compel them to move in unison and in equ l amounts but in opposite directions.

Each arm is pivotally connected by a link 1 to a slide 16 which is supported by the plate 8 and is constructed to slide toward and-from the front of thebed plate 1 or at right ang es to the front edge 17 of the plate 8. Suitable means are provided for guiding theslide 16 in its sliding movement so'that it will always move at right ang es to the edge 17. For this purpose, I have provided said slide 16 with a guiding slot 18 and have also-provided a guiding member 20 which is provided with a guiding fin 21 i'h' t enters the slot 18,-said guiding member 20 being securedto the plate 8 by suitable screws 19. Nith this construction the sliding movement of the slide 16 in a direction at -right angles to the edge 17 will operate throughthe links 15 to swing the arms 10 about their pivots 11', and because both arms are linked to the slide 16 said arms must always swingin unison and to the same extent. a

The slide 16is-acted upon by a spring finger 22 which is anchored at oneend to the plate 8, as show'nat 23. This finger tends to move theslide into the full line position thereby separating the arms 10.

In applying a collarto the positioning device, the slide 16.is moved forwardly into tie dotted line position thereby swinging the arms 10 toward each other, and the end buttonholes. as of the collar 7 are then inserted over the pins 12, the. center portion ofthe .collar .b ing inserted beneath the raised clampB. "24 is aback age by which the back edge of the collar is properly positioned in a. direction from front to back. After the collar has been placed onthe pins 12, theslide16 is released and the spring 22'm oves it toward therear thereby separating the arms 10 as far as the length of I the collar will permit. This separatin movement of the arms 10. serves to place the collar underslight tension and to straighten it, and because of the. manner in which the arms are connected, the portion of the collar which is situatedbeneath the opening 6 oi the work clamp will always be midway beformed.

tween the pins 12 and thus midway between the buttonholes 48. After the collar has thus been placed on the pins and the slide 16 has been released, the operator then starts the machine in usual manner, thereby causing the work-clamps 3 to descend and clamp the collar in this position. lVith my improvements, therefore, the collar will be always properly positioned by merely placing it on the pins 12, as above described;

When the sewing machine started the first operation is to close the worleclanips 3 onto the work and then the clamp plate 2 is moved forwardly so as to bring the pertion-underneath the opening 6 into stitching position, as usual in buttonhole sewing chines. During the stitching on the buttonhole, the work clamp is given a back-andforth feeding movement in the direction of the length of the collar, and since the plate 8 is secured to the stationary bed plate 1, the feeding movement of the clamp plate will be movement relative to the stationary plate 8. In order to provide for this, I employ a construction which will automatically produce a slack in the portion of. the collar between the ends and the clamped central portion thereof after the work clamps 3 are closed thereby permitting the central portion of the collar where the buttonhole is to be formed to be moved back 7 and iorth relative to the ends of the collar.

The slide 16 has fast thereto a finger 25 which extends underneath the plate 8 and occupies a groove 30 formed in the bed plate 1. This finger 25 is situated to be engaged b the end ofthe clamp plate 2 when the latter moves from its buttonhole-cutting position to the stitching position, and, therefore, the shifting of the clamp plate 2 into stitching position will move the slide 16 for- 1 wardly into the dotted line position thereby swinging the arms 10 toward each other and providing considerable slackness in the collar between the ends thereofand the portion which'is clamped by the work clamp 3. This movement or" the slide 16 which is caused by the clamp plate 2 does not occur, however, until after the work clamps 3 have been closed onto the positioned collar so that the swinging of the arms 10 after the work clamp is closed has no effect in disturbing the: proper position of the, portion ofthe collar where the buttonhole is to be In order to permitthe device to'beused on collars of different sizes, I propose to make each arm 10 in two sections, one section indicated at 26 being pivotedat 11 and having the link 15 pivotally connected thereto at 27, and the other section 28 being pivoted on the section 26 at 29 and carrying at its free end the pin 12.. The section 28 is provided at one end with slot 30 through which a elampingecrewfil extends, said SCI'BWSCIGW': I

, ,thre'adinginto the section 26. 5 By loosening placing the collar in the sewing. machine, the operator will"; first -,p'ul'l the "slide 16 forwardly, thereby" swinging the f arm's v inwardly to a' point-that will permit the-fend buttonholes 48 of the'collarto be inserted over the pins '12, after whiclrzthe slide will be released and-the spring'22 will'automatically move the arms 10; away from 'GlZL'ClliOtllf thereby straightening the collar and bringing the central portion thereofcdirectlybeneath the opening 6 of the work clamp.

' Any suitable meansmay be provided to thus operate the slide 16. It will be possible to manipulate said slide with a foot-lever or with a hand-lever or directly by the hand. It is immaterial how this is done so far as this invention is concerned.

After the collar has been thus positioned, the button-hole sewing machine is started which results in first closing the work clamps 3 onto the collar, then cutting the buttonhole, then shifting the work clamp from buttonhole-cutting to stitching position and stitching the buttonhole. The shifting of the work clamp from cutting to stitching position acts through the arm to again move the slide 16 forwardly into the dotted line position thereby providing sufficient slack in the collar to permit the transverse feeding movement of the central portion thereof.

After the buttonhole is stitched and the clamp has been released, the operator can then readily remove the collar from the pins 12.

While I have illustrated, a selected embodiment of my invention, yet I do not wish to be limited to the constructional features shown.

I claim:

1. In a buttonhole sewing machine of the type having a bed plate and work-holding means arranged to move toward the front of the bed plate thereby to carry the work from buttonhole-cutting to stitching position and also to move laterally to give the work a feeding movement, the combination with said bed plate and work-holding means,

:tioned centrally,:and means tocause said elements to move toward each other :when

the work holding means shifts the work from buttonhole-cutting so stitching position.

2. In a-sewingma-chine of-theclass described, the combination with bed plate and work-holding means movable toward the frontfof the bedplate to-cari y'the work from :buttonhole-cutting to" s'titching posr tion,- lof-I a plate secured Ito the bed {-plate,

collarepositioning arms pivotally mounted to the ends of the plate and adaptedto engagethe ends-of a collar, and aspring actuated connection between said arms which tends normally to separatethemand which operates to hold the collar ;retained by "said arms in central position.

Ina sewing machinelof the class described, the combination with a bed plate and work-holding means movable toward the front of the bed plate to carry the work from buttonhole-cutting to stitching position, of a plate secured to the bed plate, collar-positioning arms pivotally mounted to the ends of the plate and adapted to engage theends of a collar, a slide mounted on said plate and'movable toward andfrom the front thereof, and a connection between said slide and arms whereby the movement of the slide causes the arms to move in unison but oppositely.

I. In a sewing machine, of the class described, the combination with a bed plate and work-holding means movable toward the front of the bed plate to carry the work from buttonhole-cutting to stitching position, of a plate secured to the bed plate, collar-positioning arms pivotally mounted totheends of the plate and adapted to en-- gage the ends of a collar, a slide mounted on said plate and movable toward and from the front thereof, a connection between said slide and arms whereby the movement of the slide causes the arms to move in unison but oppositely, and a spring acting on said slide and tending to move it in a direction to separate said arms.

5. In a sewing machine of the class described, the combination with a bed plate and work-holding means movable toward the front of the bed plate to carry the work from buttonhole-cutting to stitching position, of a-plate secured to the bed plate, collar-positioning arms pivotally mounted to the ends of theplate and adapted to engage the ends of a collar, a slide mounted on said plate and movable toward and from the front thereof, a connection between said slide and arms whereby the movement of the slide causes the arms to move in unisonv but oppositely, a spring acting on'said slide and tending to move it in a direction to separate said arms, and means-actuated by the movement of the work-holding means from buttonhole-cutting to stitching position to move the slide forwardly.

6. In a buttonhole sewing machine of the class described, the combination with a bed plate, of work-holding means movable toward the front of the bed plate to carry the work from buttonhole-cutting to stitch ing position and also movable transversely to give the work feeding movement, said work-holding means having provision for clamping the work, collar-holding means carried by the bed plate and constructed to engage the ends of a collar and hold it taut and also to place the collar in central po sition, and means whereby movement of the work-holding means from buttonhole-cutting to stitching position after the work is clamped moves the collar-holding means to give slack to the ends of the collar thereby to permit the work-holding means to have its lateral work-feeding movement.

l 7. In a buttonhole sewing machine of the ward the front of the bed plate to carry the work from buttonhole-cutting to stitching position, a plate secured to the bed plate, a collar-holding arm pivoted to each end; of said plate, a slide mounted on said plate and movable toward and from the front there of, a link connecting said slide with each arm whereby forward movement of the slide swings the arms toward each other, a spring tending to move the slide rearwardly thereby to separate the arms, and a finger connected to said slide and situated to be engaged by the work-holding means during its forward movement.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification;

JOHN KIEVVICZ. 

